It's hard to grow your own patch of peace and wisdom when everyone around you is growing nettles and brambles. Even if others don't directly interfere, it's only easy to acquire the supplies that the majority is buying. And life is already a lot of work, and it's so damn tempting to just give up and go with the flow - not only is it less work, but you get a sense of community. Even if it is a community of shared dysfunction, it's better than being alone.

It seems there's got to be a threshold, a critical mass of people who want to live differently than the rest before you can weather the challenges inherent in making non-mainstream choices. This is widely applicable; AA comes to mind, as does things like vegetarianism, homosexuality, Judaism, etc. There should be an -ism for the people who reject authoritarianism blind conformism, and who have a well-defined set of coping mechanisms to deal with misinformation, bullying, cruelty, and dehumanization. And ways to deal with people that embrace such techniques, especially those in power.